About 250 high school football coaches gathered Saturday at Scottsdale Coronado High School for the annual Arizona Interscholastic Association's preseason meeting.

This is a new two-year realignment, and at the top of most coaches' minds are the transfers mess and the sentiment that there is recruiting going on.

The AIA never directly addressed the issue.

It did say that during the next two-year realignment (2020-22) that football would be treated differently than the other sports with criteria other than enrollment used to determined where to place schools.

AIA assistant director Joe Paddock said there would not be wholesale changes -- just a few teams that might move up a conference and a few that might move down a conference with a committee involved.

"We hope to have a proposal for the (AIA) Executive Board some time at the end of the year, in December, or in January," Paddock told the coaches. "Football most likely will be pulled out and run a little differently."

In the last part of the 3 1/2-hour meeting, AIA Executive Director David Hines addressed the challenging times of coaching today that includes dealing with demanding parents, who are on coaches to get their kids scholarships.

He asked the coaches, "What is our purpose?"

"They're on you because of scholarships," Hines said of the demanding parents. " 'What are you doing for my kid to get him a scholarship?' I would like to see anybody raise their hand that has the budget to put together tapes for your athletes."

With Hines not seeing hands going up, he said, "That's what I thought."

Scholarships

"We don't have the budget for that," Hines continued. "What you do for your kids is outstanding, because you work to try to get them to the next level. And there are a lot of things that you do on your own time that parents don't understand. But that's not your job. That's not what you do as high school coaches. Making the team, who is going to play, playing time, that's not a parent's decision. That's what your job is. You and your assistants work every day with kids and I have yet to find a coach that doesn't play a kid because, 'You know what, I don't like that kid.' Not one time.

"With parents, everybody has produced an All-American Pop Warner kid. Here's his stats."

Hines then asked, "Does he show up to practice every day? Is he doing what he's supposed to do every day?"

"Parents don't see their kids at practice," he said. "You do.

"Coaches you have a tough job. You're in challenging times."

Burnout

Hines also hit on the year-round practices that was passed through AIA legislation in the spring of 2017.

"It's not to practice more," Hines said. "Most of you do a great job of it. Some of your coaches don't and if it continues that way, it's going to be taken away. I want you to have the opportunity to work with kids, but we have to be smart, because there is burnout on both sides, from both the athletes and for you as coaches. You need some time off. Those kids need some time off. They need to be away from you. I know it's been a while since I coached. But I will tell you, it works. The biggest things here is if they're in the weight room. They need to be in the weight room all year."

Hines pointed out data that injuries occur more with single-sport athletes because of the repetitive nature of the sport year-round.

Pressures to win

"Parents are always pushing to win," Hines said. "I was athletic director at a high school school (Mesa Mountain View) where we had parents pushing all the time. In the first 32 years of the existence of the school, the football team won 84 percent of their games. They were ranked No. 5 in the country for a school in existence for 25 years. We still had parents who didn't think the coach did a good enough job every year. They have lost their minds.

"You have to explain to them in the parents meetings, here are the expectations. Our coaches work really hard and they have a job to do. Do not come to me as a coach, do not come to me as an athletic director and talk to me about playing time and whether your kid made the team or not. If there is something harmful to your kid, you let me know. Outside of that, you're the parent, you show support, and as a coach, they'll coach.

"Success of the team. You know what, 'You're not winning enough. If you're not winning enough, I'm going to move my kid to another school.' Here's the deal, as football coaches, we coach young men. If kids are going to make it to the next level, they are going to be found by coaches at the next level, regardless of what school that they go to. Their job as a college coach is to go find the kids they need to build a program."

Hines talked of the importance of building support through administration all the way up to the superintendent. He emphasized "educational athletics," to describe the high school coach.

"We don't have a draft to pick certain people," he said. "When they come to you, we coach them. I talk to athletic directors and principals and one of the things that I tell them is 'support your coaches.' ''

What is my legacy?

They were given predetermined questions from the AIA regarding practicing in hot weather, sportsmanship, importance of football, safety and life lessons.

Rich Tomey, son of former Arizona coach Dick Tomey, was part of the panel as a member of the Positive Coaching Alliance. He made some strong points. He talked about pressures on social media. There is so much more to deal with for coaches.

"You're not only coaching your team but outside influences that you really can't control," Tomey said. "What happens when your player goes home at night and he's posting stuff on Facebook or whatever that is detrimental to the team. There are a lot of things we need to teach our players that are outside of football."

Tomey said one of the main things he took away from his dad: "Coach them hard but love them harder."

Tomey said the main thing players need to answer is, "What is my legacy?"

Shorter rope

Brian Gessner, who took over as head of officials for the AIA in January, sent a message that ejections will be made if coaches and players cross the line.

A 15-yard penalty will be thrown on a coach for coming out onto the field for arguing a call.